Staging of gastric carcinoma depends on exact lymph node status. However, very small nodes are not easily found as they are obscured by the surrounding adipose tissue. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate the usefulness of a Olymph node revealing solutionO (LNRS) in gastric cancer. The perigastric adipose tissue of ten OproblematicO cases of gastric carcinoma, in which <10 lymph nodes were found using the traditional method, was immersed in LNRS for 6-12 h. Subsequently, the lymph nodes stood out as white chalky nodules. They were excised and processed routinely. The traditional method yielded a total of 30 lymph nodes with a mean size of 6.69 +/- 3.43 mm. The LNRS revealed 89 additional nodes with a mean size of 3.03 +/- 3.43 mm, which was significantly smaller. The Node (N) stage was changed in four cases from Nx to N0, in one case from N1 to N2, and in one case from N0 to N2. LNRS seems to be the technique of choice for staging of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma in whom <10 lymph nodes were found with the traditional method and accurate staging was not possible.

Related Articles